Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having no life; inanimate.
- adj. Having lost life; dead. See Synonyms at dead.
- adj. Not inhabited by living beings; not capable of sustaining life.
- adj. Lacking vitality or animation; dull: a lifeless party.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Deprived of life; dead; also, in a state of suspended animation.
- Not possessing life; inanimate; inorganic: as, lifeless matter.
- Destitute of power, force, vigor, or spirit; wanting animation or vital energy; dull; heavy; inactive; vapid; insipid: as, a lifeless style of oratory; lifeless movements.
- Destitute of living beings.
- Synonyms Defunct.
- Inert, torpid, sluggish, spiritless, passive; flat, frigid, pointless.
Wiktionary
- adj. inanimate; having no life
- adj. dead; having lost life
- adj. uninhabited, or incapable of supporting life
- adj. dull or lacking vitality
- adj. departed
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Destitute of life, or deprived of life; not containing, or inhabited by, living beings or vegetation; dead, or apparently dead; spiritless; powerless; dull.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. deprived of life; no longer living
- adj. lacking animation or excitement or activity
- adj. destitute or having been emptied of life or living beings
- adj. not having the capacity to support life
Etymologies
- life + -less (Wiktionary)
Examples
“WASHINGTON (RNS) As Democrats conduct a grim postmortem on Tuesday's (Nov. 2) elections, some liberal leaders say one diagnosis is already clear: the party's outreach to religious voters was lifeless from the start.”
The Huffington Post: Have Democrats Lost Faith In Faith-Based Outreach?
“The big, corporate commissioned public art pieces in lifeless lower Manhattan plazas are old news.”
The Huffington Post: Jaime Rojo & Steven Harrington: NY's Nuit Blanche: "Bring To Light"
“It's no secret, he's drinking himself to death - Jarvis stared in lifeless horror at the sky.”
“But then, I keep a blog to prove my existence, to show people how lifeless is my life ....”
“There the sea became for me a being with a soul - as everything is, though we do not perceive it - and there her aspects and her voice acquired a meaning, as all that we call lifeless has a meaning.”
“But the figure that is like you will remain lifeless in the bed, and will be duly buried.”
“At that hour, standing alone in the high-walled garden when the convent bells are tolling, and the convent itself, with its iron-barred, Gothic windows, and its gray-green olive-trees that look so unreal and lifeless, is tinged by the last rays of the sun, the whole seems like a vision, or a half-remembered sketch, or a memory of romance.”
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country
“I must proceed to Windsor, to calm the anxiety of Clara, who would wait anxiously for us -- yet I would fain spare her the heart-breaking spectacle of Idris, brought in by me lifeless from the journey.”
“Homer, too, having discovered from the ancient and divine history which says, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," [2579] calls the lifeless body of Hector dumb clay.”
ANF01. The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus
“His instructors had referred to the lifeless, crumbling cities and vast transportation networks of that planet to stress the importance of exploration and discovery.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘lifeless’.
-
1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
-
-more or -less
Words ending with *more or *less, more or less. Many of theses terms also appear on the list The -less Said, which see.
schemaless, unless, useless, guileless, wireless, regardless, homeless, endless, nevertheless, countless, jobless, doubtless and 434 more...
-
Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 2465 more... -
No Dearth of Deadly Designations
catafalque, cenotaph, necropolis, sepulcher, sarcophagus, mausoleum, reliquary, ossuary, necrosis, cadaver, cadaverous, pyre and 103 more...
-
feeling words
twitterpated, loquacious, ambiguous, pensive, sluggish, anxious, adventurous, curious, abandoned, absent-minded, abrasive, abused and 653 more...
-
describe me
charming, afectionate, addictive, selfless, patience, drastic, fond, light-heeled, fragrant, delicate, care-free, natural and 95 more...
-
The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
-
precious
coin, waiflike, zoo, captain, difference, diet, automagical, olive, noanoa, dusk, cookie, monday and 221 more...
-
Numbrella ☂
Unfeeling; comfortably dry.
"Ella, ella, ella..."schmaltzy, nonchalant, joyless, aloof, lifeless, indifferent, dead, uninspired, lethargic, preoccupied, distant, removed and 50 more...
-
Wishful Words
wish, wishful, wishfully, dinosaur, malachite, lovely, whimsy, whisper, whismical, dream, treasure, whisp and 66 more...
-
love
love love love
sleepless, dreams, restless, heartache, liebe, feelings, thoughts, death, lifeless, sad, sadness, pain and 45 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for lifeless.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.